The main issue is that the American economy is based on the belief that there is an infinite amount of resources known as fossil fuels. The truth is that fossil fuels are in fact a finite resource that we have already used more than half of in the last 150 years. The world provides around 40% of the world energy but the world will reach peak oil in a few decades. The world is too heavily reliant on a finite resource but at the same time the world’s population keeps on increasing.
· Behavior – Americans believe that they are somehow entitled to cheap energy and as a result use the energy inefficiently. Americans make up only 5% of the world’s population but at the same time we use more than 25% of the world’s resources. 85% of the resources we use come from fossil fuels. Americans believe that their current way of life will always be this way. In addition, that to go “green” one will always have to sacrifice something, but generally that is not the case.
· Our mentality or mindset is very different if you compare it to the Japanese mindset. The American mindset is that if the individual is cold within his home, he needs to heat up the entire house as a result of him being cold. The Japanese mindset is fundamentally different in that if the individual is cold within their home, that person will only need to put on a jacket or use a small heater to heat the area surrounding the person.
· Economic – During the 1970’s oil crisis, the United States lost 5% oil input which had a big economic impact. This led to oil prices rising, people having to carpool, and less air travel. The exact same thing happened during and after Katrina. Katrina caused a min economic crisis to occur when we lost a great deal of oil. It caused there to be less employment, the doubling of oil priced just to name a few. Without oil and other fossil fuels, the American and even the world’s current way of life would no longer be possible.
· Political – Think of the law of supply and demand. Currently there is high demand for fossil fuels but the supply will eventually run out. At first the prices for fossil fuels will rise and for a while people and nations will be able to afford the price. However, there will be a point where people and nations will start fighting amongst themselves to get fossil fuels. They will determine that going to war is cheaper than paying the cost of the ever rising fossil fuels. The wars that have occurred in the last two decades have been fought, among other reasons, because nations wanted fossil fuels.
· Ecological – We are releasing more and more hazardous gases into the environment that is leading to global warming. In the last 150 years or so, we have released more gases than in the last few hundreds of thousands of years. Global warming is causing global ice sheets to melt at a very alarming rates. As more ice sheets melt, the sea level will also rise by as much as 20 feet. This also leads to hurricanes that are more dangerous due to the fact that the ocean’s temperature is also rising. In addition, global warming causes cold places to get colder while hot places will get even hotter.
Thankfully there are quite a few things that can be done to lessen the damages and other unintentional consequences of using fossil fuels. The first thing that must occur is for people to recognize that there is a problem. The second part is that people need to actually deal with the problem.
One solution is to use politics as a way to try to resolve the fossil fuel problems. If you cannot use national politics, you can always use politics at the state level. It may be easier to get new laws and regulations at a state instead of at a national level because there may be less obstacles.
One of the things that really shocked me was that there was a state, I think it was California, trying to increase the fuel efficiency to an amount that was greater than the national average. I do not recall the numbers but I will give an estimation to illustrate the issue. The national average is 5%, California wanted to increase it to 20% but due to corporate interests, the regulative body in charge of the national average found it was unconstitutional to increase fuel efficiency by 20%. Instead the corporations answer to the issue was to slightly increase fuel efficiency to 7% in order for them to say they increased fuel efficiency and prevented a higher efficiency standard from being placed.
The main issue is that the American economy is based on the belief that there is an infinite amount of resources known as fossil fuels. The truth is that fossil fuels are in fact a finite resource that we have already used more than half of in the last 150 years. The world provides around 40% of the world energy but the world will reach peak oil in a few decades. The world is too heavily reliant on a finite resource but at the same time the world’s population keeps on increasing.
Thankfully there are quite a few things that can be done to lessen the damages and other unintentional consequences of using fossil fuels. The first thing that must occur is for people to recognize that there is a problem. The second part is that people need to actually deal with the problem.
One solution is to use politics as a way to try to resolve the fossil fuel problems. If you cannot use national politics, you can always use politics at the state level. It may be easier to get new laws and regulations at a state instead of at a national level because there may be less obstacles.
One of the things that really shocked me was that there was a state, I think it was California, trying to increase the fuel efficiency to an amount that was greater than the national average. I do not recall the numbers but I will give an estimation to illustrate the issue. The national average is 5%, California wanted to increase it to 20% but due to corporate interests, the regulative body in charge of the national average found it was unconstitutional to increase fuel efficiency by 20%. Instead the corporations answer to the issue was to slightly increase fuel efficiency to 7% in order for them to say they increased fuel efficiency and prevented a higher efficiency standard from being placed.